yao has really proven to be the best center in the league, I mean he's owned dwight howard the 2 times they played last year, cmon yao shows up for every game IN A SUIT AND PANTS, you can have yao and his brittle legs that pwn howard, I'll take 82 games of dwight
What's tough for me is deciding what type of player to bring in. Obviously, we need a big who can run the floor and defend the paint but beyond that where do we upgrade? I definitely feel we need something else beside a healthy Yao and a backup for him but I don't know what. AB/Lowry - great PG combo Martin/Budinger - good/very good SG combo Battier/Ariza - good SF combo Scola/Hill - good (and should get better) PF combo I would say the only weak link among all those players is Hill and even he showed signs of becoming a very competent backup PF who brings some shotblocking and length to PF. Where do you (realistically) upgrade? Who goes or gets bumped out of the rotation?
We have a lot of good players, but no great players. Even Yao, after the year off and major surgery, can no longer be considered a great player. Morey said that Yao might not even be 100% until the end of the year. We need to upgrade to a great player. I think most people target Bosh becomes he seems to be the best player that is attainable. We could upgrade the PG spot, but whose realistically available? If Chris Paul is made available, I would love to make a run for him. Outside of that and trading for the #1 pick, I don't think theres anyone worth upgrading for. I'm not sure Morey would be inclined to look for a SG because of Martin. KM was brought in to be a great complimentary player to our stars. He doesn't take a lot of shots, but can consistently score in the 20s and would be a great option out of kick outs. I think Martin is the reason you won't see Morey go hard after guys like Joe Johnson, etc. The SF spot is our only defense on the perimeter. AB and Martin are both below-average defenders, so we need Ariza/Shane to help anchor our perimeter defense. If we could land LeBron, that's obvious.. but outside of him I don't think there's much available. The PF spot seems to be the one where we have the best chance of upgrading. I'd rate the PFs in this FA class as Bosh, Amare, Boozer -- and I could see Morey making a hard run at all of them, in order. But contrary to popular belief, I think the Rockets keep Scola as the backup four and trade Hill. I'm not even sure the Rockets CAN trade Scola in a Bosh deal, as I don't believe you can add contracts on top of Scola's to make the salaries match. If we're going to be doing a SnT, the other team doesn't have as much leverage as they normally would in a mid-season deal. It's a good bet that Jared Jeffries would be included in a deal to help bump the salaries. I can see the Knicks 2011 swap pick, Knicks 2011 and Rockets 2011 1st rounders all being pieces to the deal, along with Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger and perhaps Shane Battier. We did offer Philadelphia McGrady and Budinger for Iguodala & Dalembert, which they declined, so apparently we'd move him in the right deal.
That's gotta be the best case I've heard that Morey isn't gonna pick up Bosh or Amar'e and I agree with you. If Scola makes near that kind of money we're not getting amar'e or bosh without trading scola, and it looks like Morey loves Scola. It shall be interesting to see what happens this offseason
hmmm? What is a star anyway? Someone who can't get injured? Someone who everyone knows their name & face? A giant ball of flaming gas in outerspace? Someone who posts nothing but questions on the bbs?
A very good point. I really hope Yao returns to his real form and dominates again at least for the minutes that he would be getting in the early parts of the season. I still say that we really need a bruiser PF/C but you gave another side of the issue that I failed to see and for that, I thank you.
we need a team that can do better than thread water sans Yao Ming. a complete season from him is a long shot. couple that with the improbability of him being 100% at the start of next season ... only folks satisfied with a playoff cameo will carry the "just add Yao" banner.
More like the Suns offered Amare for Scola and Battier and it compelled the Rockets to consider the deal seriously.... And the Rockets rejected it because Amare would only be a half season "loan".
From what I remember, the deal fell apart because the Suns wanted to waive the physicals requirement, which the Rockets would not agree to. Even if the Suns came to the Rockets last minute, it's likely they had discussed a deal similar to this in the past -- that's why the Suns were able to come in last minute and almost strike a deal. Much like the Rockets knew the Kings wanted Landry for quite sometime and were able to swing a Martin deal in the final 24 hours.
Yes if Yao can come back and play the full season plus playoff. What's the point to have the best center who is MIA in the playoff?
